QXAS UK’s 2019 Year in Review : Through the Lens of An Accountant

Here’s a list of our biggest accounting stories you might have missed – but still have time to read.

The Year of Doing Good

This year was all about making sense of things. Finding the right talent, being advisors to clients, integrating automation and moving to the cloud – there was a lot changing in the profession in very little time. Most firms that we worked with and talked to regularly didn’t mind the chaos but more importantly, they wanted to find meaning in the accounting profession’s fast changing landscape.

It was this sense of finding a meaning that led to our original research report on ‘The Current State of Accounting’ and drew a roadmap for our fellow business partners to get through these times with the help of the right people, the right technology and ‘giving to the world.’

During this course of conducting the research, we also staked out a new path for charitable giving. It didn’t just help us in leaving a big impact on countless lives across the globe but also opened to the doors of our business to millennials who shared our zeal for our mission of better business, better lives and a better world. ‘Outsourcing for Good’ helped us and our clients become a part of a bigger cause. It helped us discover the true extents of ‘the power of purpose’ and the impacts that our business can have on countless people in the world.

Bridging the MTD Gap

We’ll be honest – the year kicked off with quite some turbulence on the MTD front. Looking at the MTD software mandate that hovered like a dark cloud over many British accounting firms – we gathered all the helpful MTD advice from thought leaders at QXAS and put it together in the form of useful resources in our MTD Content

Surveying Accounting for Good

August was a revolutionary month in Accounting.

Over 250 practitioners, firm leaders, association heads, regulators and consultants participated in our industry-wide ‘Current State of the Accounting’ Research. The research covered hot-topic questions on their experiences, pressures and challenges in the accounting profession.

A Report on Current State of Accounting

The findings from the research report were ‘shocking’ enough to be compiled into an original research report that our friend and business strategist appropriately titled as ‘The Really Bad News for Accountancy Practices and What to do About it.’

But despite the grim title, the report helped us find answers to some of the biggest challenges in accounting such as:

• Restoring work-life balance
• Switching to an advisory model
• Clients demands and expectations
• Widespread errors in accountingMoreover, it marked the beginning of our ‘business for good’ movement since it was the first time QXAS UK donated on behalf of all our visitors who download the report, attended the webinar and participated in the survey. It was our way of thanking the accounting brethren for their initiatives towards combatting the challenges in the profession.

Making a difference, one event at a time

2019 was an extremely ‘eventful’ year, literally. In October, we proudly sponsored events like ‘The B1G1x Conference’ in Charing Cross, London; while in November, we partnered with Solutio UK to host the ‘The Future of Payroll’ event at the stylish surroundings of the London Edition.

Besides just being sponsors, we gladly travelled to events in London where ideas on change, disruption and the advent of technology in accounting were discussed and celebrated.

Our Travels

From getting a shout-out by Gordon Gilchrist at the 2020 Group Conference to coming across Masami Sato’s groundbreaking philanthropic ideas at B1G1x – this year, we were inspired to develop our existing business model into a more charitable one by integrating social missions into all of our day-to-day operations. Below, let’s take a look at some of the stories brought to us through the lens of QXAS delegates, Parth Prajapati, Pom Chakravarti and Pramith Naidu in a roughly chronological order:

Making Tax Season Good Again

The first step to bettering the world is bettering businesses.

In November, we launched our Tax Season Content Hub put together to address the most widespread tax season issues that keep firms away from – winning new clients, staffing shortage, collecting client’s data on time and much more.

Sneak-peek: all that QXAS has in store for 2020

The Launch of our Brand New Client Portal

In January 2020, a brand new client portal will be open to access for clients. The portal will bring clarity, focus and vision for our clients’ businesses through a unified client experience that helps them monitor their profits, track their jobs and forecast profits to stay ahead of the curve.

Monthly Advice: The Accountants’ Dealbook

The QXAS Newsletter titled ‘The Accountant Dealbook’ will bring our subscribers and clients a monthly dose of up-to-date useful, insightful articles and resources to help you make informed decisions in business. This is our way to keep our subscribers updated with the most important developments in the accounting –based on the analysis from today’s most creative and pioneering voices from the industry.

The Legacy of Good

Accounting and ‘doing good’ go back a long way. We’ve all longed to do the best for our clients and go the extra mile to meet their expectations. In fact, one of the findings from ‘The Really Bad News for Accountancy Practices…, 2019 shows us how accountants want to have a greater impact even beyond the profession and do some good in the world. Finally, as this highly eventful year draws to a close and as the New Year’s Eve approaches, we pause to look back on 2019 and the legacy of good that all our clients, readers and subscribers are helping us leave behind.

These legacies are often in the form of hope. The kids in Cambodia who now have pushbikes to go to school or the accounting practices in UK, who now have the adequate resources to work with – they both grow alike, as we strive towards giving them the best possible future and a world of better businesses, better lives and better societies to live in.